Celebrities With Gay Family Members

These Stars Support Their LGBT Family Members

There are plenty of stars who have spoken out to support gay rights, but for some, the issue hits closer to home. In an interview with Out magazine, Robert De Niro spoke honestly about his father's sexuality, which is touched on in a new HBO documentary about his late dad's life. While he was not closeted, this was, in a way, a public coming out for the artist Robert De Niro Sr., and his son said he wished he would have honored him sooner. Like the Oscar-winning actor, several celebrities, including Adam Levine, Anne Hathaway, and Colin Farrell, have shared personal stories about their gay, lesbian, and transgender family members. Take a look at some of the Hollywood stars who have publicly shared their support for LGBT loved ones.

"I can't remember much about the years of physical and emotional abuse my brother Eamon suffered. I was very small. The thing I do remember, though, quite literally, is blood on his school shirt when he came home in the afternoon. . . . I didn't understand at that time the concept of 'difference.' Back then, as now, he was just my big brother."

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Twenty years after the death of his father, Robert De Niro is honoring his dad in a new HBO documentary. Discussing the project with Out magazine, the actor was asked if his father was conflicted about being gay. De Niro responded:

"Yeah, he probably was, being from that generation, especially from a small town upstate. I was not aware, much, of it. I wish we had spoken about it much more. My mother didn't want to talk about things in general, and you're not interested when you're a certain age. Again, for my kids, I want them to stop and take a moment and realize that you sometimes have to do things now instead of later, because later may be 20 years from now — and that's too late."

"This is the thing that makes me know how important it is: I like being a woman so much. If I woke up tomorrow and I felt like I feel, and I looked down and I was in a different body? I would be like, 'Get me out of here.'"

"We spent the whole day together, got to the city, had some beers in my hotel room, got into a really great talk, and he came out. I was so glad that he did. That's got to be a difficult transition, but I come from the most liberal household you have ever heard of. . . . I think my mother was praying for [both of] us to be gay, so at least she got one of us."

"It's a shame. I know my brother; he's a great guy — goes to church, doesn't screw anybody over — and yet he's still got some religious yahoos and politicos over to the side going, 'Change your ways; you're going to hell!' Stay out of my brother's bedroom, buddy."

"I have two gay brothers and two straight brothers, and my gay brothers were treated horrifically until they grew up and understood how to deal with it. I will delete you and I will block you, and you will not be a part of my life if you ever say anything bad about my brothers."

For more on Chloë, go to Seventeen.com and pick up the October issue of Seventeen, on newsstands Sept. 17.